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A TV remake of Stephen King's Children of the Corn is currently being shot right here in our little town. Supposedly, this remake is gonna follow King's storyline a bit closer, even though it's made for the Sci-Fi channel.

They've spread corn stalks and grass all over the place to give the town a kind of deserted look, as well as placed a few old and abandoned cars here and there. They even put up an old stop light over the main intersection, but it hangs really low for some reason. (about 8 feet off the ground.)

The set is supposed to represent circa 1975 or so, which isn't too hard to accomplish cuz we're at least 30 years behind the times here anyway. .

Yesterday, they had one of the kid actors up on the roof of a two-story building doing some stuff, and they also ran an old Thunderbird around the block a few times for some of the driving shots. Friday, they plan on burning/blowing up that old T-Bird while the 'driver' runs towards the church only to fall dead in a heap. (We told 'em that we didn't want our church in the picture, so they'll cut 'n paste another one to put in it's place when they do the editing.)

They already shot the ending out in a few local corn fields, and now they're up at the school football field shooting the kid actors, who are all dressed up like amish kids, as they run about and play.

Overall, it's been kinda interesting, and the folks (i.e. producer, actors, staff, etc.) are very kind and considerate people. And if I can get my cheap digital camera up and running, I may post a few pics if I can get in close enough between takes.

doc

Here's a shot of the car they plan on blowing up on Saturday morning. They were gonna do it today but they ran into a few delays yesterday which extended their time-table.



Haven't seen Dave Anders yet, but I did speak with Kandyse McClure for a few minutes between takes yesterday. I woulda had someone to take our picture together, but I didn't have my camera along, (dammit)...She's a very nice lady...and real pretty too.

I also asked the director (Don Borchers) if I could get in the film somehow, but he said he didn't want the movie to be THAT scary.

All in all, watching them set up and shoot is like watching the corn grow...

doc

I see that you have some nice old buildings in your town Doc. Why wouldn't you want your church in the shot - tourists afterwards?

I am not a Stephen King fan myself but one of my sons is - I will have to let him see your photo.

Keep trying, they may give you a walk through part yet!

We didn't want our church in the picture because we didn't want to associate with the message the film was conveying: That of an evil supernatural force that causes the kids to kill off all the adults.

We felt the church should maintain it's current ministry of being a benevolent source of help for those who are in need, and therefore we declined their generous offer to use it as a means to promote the more sinister role the script demands.

As far as a part goes, my only function would be that of a decaying corpse, as all the adults have already been killed off in this remake. But hey, I woulda taken a few bucks to lay around napping in a dead heap somewhere while in makeup

doc

That would be pretty funny Doc if people who were supposed to be dead started snoring.

Yeah it would...

Anyway, I was just up at the set again, and I got this shot of Dave after welcoming him into town. (Note the knife sticking out of his left arm.)



I also got this shot of 'Malachi' between takes.



doc

Here's a pic of me and Kandyse. (I shoulda dressed better. )

Cool Doc! Hey, isn't that the girl from Battlestar? I LOVE her...that DAMN Apollo...

-Dan

Yep..She starred as Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, a Petty Officer Second Class in the Colonial Fleet.

We talked for about 15 minutes, then she had to get back into character by sitting in the car as the kids beat on it with axes, crowbars, and scythes, etc. She can scream really loud...

Here's shot of the car all smashed up and getting rigged for blowing.

They still have to shoot a few scenes around it before they make it hot, which should/could happen around noon time or so.

Here's a shot of the car as they blew it up around 5pm tonight.



And here's a shot of the car as they let it burn for a few minutes.



They wouldn't let anyone within five hundred feet of it when they blew it, and only a few people got in as close as I did while it burned.

So much for the life of what was a pristine 67 T-Bird...


doc

If you want to see some more pics, then go here.

One of my friends put her camera to work a lot better than I did.

doc

I think it is very cool to have a movie made in your own town Doc. How far in advance did you know the movie team was going to come? Is some of it going to be shot in a studio?

We found out about a month before they showed up to film, although advance scouts were evidently checking out a lot of towns in this region long before that. They chose us, not only because we have wide streets with long and clear views, but mostly they chose us cuz we're out of the way and we don't have too much traffic to disrupt, meaning we're a pretty quiet little town. That, along with some of our older dilapidated buildings, made it perfect to represent a "deserted town".

As far as I know, all the street scenes were shot in town, while the corn field scenes were shot in a field about three miles west of 'downtown'. They shot there for about 5 days.

They built an inside studio in our grade school's gymnasium, one part which consists of an old canvas army tent that has hay bales for interior seats for the children to gather in, while the other part is a walled room that looks like a living room of sorts, about 20 feet square, although I haven't seen what kind of props they 've put in it yet. They'll be shooting in those studio starting tomorrow. Haven't heard if they'll shoot anywhere else yet, but I guess Dave and Kandyse are done shooting, so now it's just a matter of finishing up with the kids.

Here's a shot of the smallest actor who plays a major part as "Isaac". He's from California, and he's done very well here. He's the one I saw up on the roof earlier in the week.



doc

Well, they're all done filming and Elvis has left the building...

One of my neighbors has pics of her kids undergoing the hurry up and wait process of filming at this site. Bethany and little Raina sure are a couple of cutie pies.

doc